An investigation into reading strategies employed by efl students at tra vinh high school for gifted students

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITITES DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE AN INVESTIGATION INTO READING STRATEGIES EMPLOYED BY EFL STUDENTS AT TRA VINH HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIFTED STUDENTS Submitted to the Department of English Linguistics & Literature in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL By HANG PHUC MY PHUONG Supervised by NGUYEN BICH HANH, M.A HO CHI MINH CITY, JULY 2013 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my thanks to the people who have helped me complete this study I owe my supervisor a deep debt of gratitude for her patient guidance, encouragement, valuable comments and suggestions Without her support, I would not have finished this study My sincere thanks go to the students at Tra Vinh high school for gifted students who have enthusiastically participated in the study I would like to thank my friends in the MA course, TESOL 2008, for their useful advice, support, encouragement and willingness to share their resources and experience The support extended to me by members of my family has been immeasurable I am deeply grateful to my mother, my brother and my sister for their support and encouragement throughout the course and the completion of this thesis i STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: AN INVESTIGATION INTO READING STRATEGIES EMPLOYED BY EFL STUDENTS AT TRA VINH HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIFTED STUDENTS in terms of the statement of the Requirements for the Theses in Master’s Program issued by the Higher Degree Committee This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other institutions Ho Chi Minh City, July 2013 HANG PHUC MY PHUONG ii RETENTION OF USE I hereby state that I, HANG PHUC MY PHUONG, being the candidate for the degree of Master of Arts in TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan or reproduction of theses Ho Chi Minh City, July 2013 HANG PHUC MY PHUONG iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements i Statement of originality - ii Retention of use iii Table of contents - iv List of tables - vii List of charts - vii Abstract - viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 Statement of the problem 1.3 Aims of the study - 1.4 Significance of the study - 1.5 Organization of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW - 2.1 Models of the reading process 2.1.1 Bottom-up models 2.1.2 Top-down models - 10 2.1.3 Interactive models - 12 2.2 Defining reading strategies 13 2.3 Reading strategy identification - 15 2.3.1 Metacognitive strategies - 16 2.3.2 Cognitive strategies - 18 2.4 Strategies of good readers 19 2.4.1 Metacognition 19 2.4.2 Cognitive strategies - 21 2.5 The effects of reading strategy use in the reading process 25 2.5.1 Assisting text comprehension - 25 2.5.2 Improving reading test performance 27 iv 2.5.3 Increasing fluent reading comprehension 28 2.6 Framework for reading strategy instruction - 29 2.6.1 Framework for instructing a reading comprehension strategy 29 2.6.2 Framework for strategic reading development 31 2.7 Reading strategies to be taught - 33 2.8 Summary - 35 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY - 36 3.1 Research design - 36 3.1.1 Study setting 36 3.1.2 Participants - 37 3.2 Instruments 38 3.2.1 Questionnaire - 38 3.2.2 Reading test - 39 3.2.3 Retrospection report - 41 3.2.4 Think-aloud report - 41 3.3 Data collection procedure - 43 3.4 Data analysis procedure 44 3.5 Summary - 45 CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION - 46 4.1 Results from the questionnaire 46 4.1.1 The students’ awareness of an English reading process 46 4.1.2 The students’ frequency of using reading strategies in the reading process 50 4.1.2.1 Frequency of using pre-reading strategies - 50 4.1.2.2 Frequency of using while-reading strategies 51 4.1.2.3 Frequency of using post-reading strategies - 53 4.1.3 Summary - 55 4.2 Results from the reading test - 55 4.3 Results from retrospection and think-aloud reports - 56 v 4.3.1 The students’ employment of pre-reading strategies in their actual reading process 57 4.3.2 The students’ employment of while-reading strategies in their actual reading process 62 4.3.3 The students’ employment of post-reading strategies in their actual reading process - 68 4.3.4 Summary 70 4.4 Discussion of results 71 4.5 Major findings - 76 4.6 Summary 78 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS - 79 5.1 Summary 79 5.2 Implications 81 5.3 Suggestions 83 5.3.2 For teachers at TVHSGS 83 5.3.3 For the English majors at TVHSGS - 86 5.4 Limitations of the study - 86 5.5 Suggestions for further research - 87 REFERENCES 88 APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: Reading Test - 93 APPENDIX 2: Retrospection Report (Vietnamese Version) 98 APPENDIX 3: Retrospection Report (English Version) - 99 APPENDIX 4: Questionnaire (Vietnamese Version) - 100 APPENDIX 5: Questionnaire (English Version) 104 APPENDIX 6: The reading passage for thinking aloud 108 APPENDIX 7: Summary of reading strategies used by successful and less successful students in doing a test 110 vi APPENDIX 8: Summary of reading strategies used by successful and less successful students in reading a regular text - 111 LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: Common pre-reading strategies of skilled readers 23 Table 2.2: Common while-reading strategies of skilled readers - 24 Table 2.3: Common post-reading strategies of skilled readers 24 Table 3.1: Students’ English learning experience - 37 Table 3.2: Main skills to be checked in the reading test 40 Table 4.1: Students’ use of knowledge while reading English texts 47 Table 4.2: Students’ awareness of the benefits of reading strategies - 49 Table 4.3: Frequency of using pre-reading strategies - 50 Table 4.4: Frequency of using while-reading strategies - 52 Table 4.5: Frequency of using post-reading strategies - 54 Table 4.6: Students’ reading test results 55 Table 4.7: Students’ use of pre-reading strategies in their actual reading 57 Table 4.8: Students’ use of while-reading strategies in their actual reading - 62 Table 4.9: Students’ use of post-reading strategies in their actual reading - -68 LIST OF CHARTS Chart 4.1: Students’ ways of reading different types of English texts 46 Chart 4.2: Students’ strategies of approaching the content of an English text 47 Chart 4.3: Students’ main purposes of reading English texts 48 Chart 4.4: Students’ awareness of the importance of English reading strategies - 49 vii ABSTRACT Reading research has indicated that good readers are strategic readers who use a variety of reading strategies to aid their text comprehension, increase reading fluency and enhance their test performance However, the teaching of reading strategies to Vietnamese high school students is neglected in the formal teaching of the reading skill Thus, this study was conducted to examine how EFL students at Tra Vinh High School for Gifted Students (TVHSGS) adopted reading strategies in their reading process with a view to helping them develop strategic reading abilities To achieve the goal, this study employed four data collection instruments including a questionnaire, a reading test, retrospection and think-aloud reports with the participation of 53 English majors of TVHSGS The results of the study revealed that the students were highly aware of an effective English reading process which requires utilizing both bottom-up and top-down approaches as well as fluent text processing skills They used reading strategies more frequently in the pre-and while-reading stage for text comprehension than in the post-reading to gain a deeper understanding of texts Therefore, the skills they could use most successfully were skimming, scanning and guessing the meaning of new words However, in actual reading most of the students tended to subscribe to bottom-up models by reading carefully to decode individual meanings for a complete understanding of texts even when the texts were simple Reports from retrospection and think-alouds also showed that the students did not have a thorough knowledge of using some basic strategies (e.g previewing, word meaning guessing) and lacked strong reading skills (e.g recognizing text structure, word recognition skills, making questions or predictions) to facilitate their interpretation, have an active engagement in texts and process them quickly Since the students are not used to responding to texts with a variety of effective strategies, the teaching of strategic reading is necessary to help them improve their reading skills for reading efficiency viii CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study Nowadays English has become a language for international communication The popularity of the language has a major impact on educational systems of many countries around the world in general and in Vietnam in particular Its position in the country can be seen clearly through the obligatory inclusion of English in all language curricula from elementary schools to universities with the aim of encouraging students to learn this important language to access information, to engage in advanced studies, to get a good job or to actively participate in the international integration Obviously, these goals can hardly be achieved without reasonable mastery of English In order to open the way for students to be fluent at the language, the English language teaching in Vietnam is expected to help them acquire the four skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing Among these skills, reading is considered to be essential for students to learn because of several reasons First, it is viewed as a useful tool to get access to world knowledge as well as ideas which are mainly written in English and exist in large numbers of English books Particularly, in the age of high technology reading proficiency continues to play an increasingly important role The advent of computers and the Internet has made greater demands on fluent English reading abilities to deal with large amounts of information to keep up with current events Second, the ability to read in English brings a lot of opportunities for students to make more progress and attain greater success in all academic areas (Anderson, 1999, p 1) In other words, it is believed that effective reading contributes greatly to developing students’ knowledge to the point at which advanced academic objectives can be accomplished With the considerable benefits of reading in English, training Vietnamese students to 27 Why would somebody read this text? a To find out about the weather b For information on driving lessons c To learn about better driving d To decide when to travel 28 What does the writer think? a People should avoid driving in the snow b Drivers should expect problems in winter c People write too fast in winter d Winter drivers should use their brakes less 29 Why does the writer talk about a cup of coffee? a To explain the importance of smooth movements b Because he thinks refreshments are important for drivers c Because he wants drivers to be more relaxed d To show how it can be spilled 30 Which traffic sign shows the main idea of the text? a b DRIVE CAREFULLY REDUCE SPEED NOW ICE ON ROAD AHEAD FOG AHEAD c d DRIVE CAREFULLY SLOW DOWN ROAD REPAIRS AHEAD ACCIDENT AHEAD *** - 97 APPENDIX 2: RETROSPECTION REPORT IN VIETNAMESE VERSION PHIẾU TƯỜNG THUẬT Em diễn tả lại trình em đọc đoạn văn tiếng Anh để trả lời câu hỏi kiểm tra (cách em quan sát đoạn văn, cách xử lí đoạn văn, cách giải từ mới, nhận khó khăn cách giải khó khăn lúc đọc, …) THANK YOU! 98 APPENDIX 3: RETROSPECTION REPORT IN ENGLISH VERSION RETROSPECTION REPORT Please describe the ways you read the English passages to answer the questions in the test (how you observed the passages, how you processed them, how you dealt with new words, what difficulties you had while reading, and what you did to overcome them, …) THANK YOU! 99 APPENDIX 4: QUESTIONNAIRE IN VIETNAMESE VERSION BẢN CÂU HỎI Mục đích câu hỏi nhằm tìm hiểu việc sử dụng chiến lược đọc tiếng Anh học sinh trường phổ thông trung học chuyên Trà Vinh Câu trả lời em quan trọng khảo sát mong em trả lời câu hỏi sau cách rõ ràng trung thực Tôi đảm bảo thông tin em cung cấp sử dụng vào mục đích nghiên cứu A THƠNG TIN CÁ NHÂN Họ tên: Lớp: Em học tiếng Anh bao lâu? năm B NHẬN THỨC CHUNG VỀ QUÁ TRÌNH ĐỌC VĂN BẢN TIẾNG ANH Em đọc kiểu văn tiếng Anh nào? (chọn câu trả lời) … Theo cách … Bằng nhiều cách khác tùy theo đọc mục đích đọc Em đọc đọc tiếng Anh theo cách nào? (chọn câu trả lời) … Đọc từ từ đầu đến cuối … Đọc nhanh qua đọc sau đọc lại phần quan trọng Khi đọc văn tiếng Anh, em thấy vận dụng kiến thức nào? (chọn câu trả lời) … Kiến thức từ vựng ngữ pháp … Kiến thức có sẵn sống … Cả hai kiến thức Lí em đọc văn tiếng Anh gì? (chọn câu trả lời) … Để làm tập đọc yêu cầu … Để rèn luyện kĩ đọc 100 … Để nâng cao vốn từ vựng ngữ pháp … Để biết thêm thông tin … Để giải trí Lí khác: ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… Theo em chiến lược đọc tiếng Anh có quan trọng q trình đọc hiểu khơng? … Rất quan trọng … Quan trọng … Hơi quan trọng … Không quan trọng Em nêu thuận lợi chiến lược đọc trình đọc hiểu văn tiếng Anh? ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… C NHẬN THỨC VỀ MỨC ĐỘ THƯỜNG XUYÊN CỦA VIỆC SỬ DỤNG CHIẾN LƯỢC ĐỌC TRONG QUÁ TRÌNH ĐỌC VĂN BẢN TIẾNG ANH XIN TRẢ LỜI Ở TRANG SAU 101 Em cho biết mức độ thường xuyên em sử dụng chiến lược đọc tiếng Anh sau nào? Hãy đánh dấu (X) vào ô em chọn MỨC ĐỘ SỬ DỤNG CÁC CHIẾN LƯỢC ĐỌC HIỂU TIẾNG ANH Xác định rõ mục đích đọc trước đọc Lên kế hoạch (từng bước) cho việc đọc Xem nhanh qua đọc TRƯỚC KHI ĐỌC BÀI Kết hợp kiến thức có sẵn thân với (chủ đề, nội dung) đọc Đoán nội dung đọc phần đọc Chú ý đến kết cấu (cách tổ chức) đọc Đặt số câu hỏi nội dung đọc Đọc lại kiểm tra xem việc đoán nội dung đọc bên hay sai TRONG KHI ĐỌC BÀI Đọc tìm câu trả lời cho câu hỏi đặt Tận dụng từ nối văn để xem mối quan hệ ý tưởng đọc 102 (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Không Hiếm Thỉnh Thường Luôn bao thoảng MỨC ĐỘ SỬ DỤNG CÁC CHIẾN LƯỢC ĐỌC HIỂU TIẾNG ANH (1) (2) (3) Tiến hành việc sửa chữa nhận thân hiểu sai đọc TRONG Đọc lại khơng hiểu ĐỌC Đốn nghĩa từ dựa vào từ xung quanh nội dung đọc BÀI Đưa suy luận thân đọc Kiểm tra xem mức độ hiểu đọc đến đâu Tóm tắt lại nội dung đọc SAU KHI ĐỌC BÀI Nhận xét đọc Nhận xét tác giả Nêu thân học (biết) từ đọc Xem xét mục đích đọc ban đầu thân có đáp ứng tốt hay không Chân thành cám ơn hợp tác em! 103 (5) Không Hiếm Thỉnh Thường Luôn bao thoảng Nhận thức rõ khó khăn gặp phải đọc hiểu KHI (4) APPENDIX 5: QUESTIONNAIRE IN ENGLISH VERSION QUESTIONNAIRE This questionnaire aims to investigate the reading strategies frequently used by students at Tra Vinh High School for Gifted Students Your responses are indispensable for the survey so please answer the following questions as fully and honestly as possible The information collected is used for research purpose only A PERSONAL INFORMATION Full name: Class: How long have you been learning English? years B ABOUT YOUR AWARENESS OF AN EFL READING PROCESS How you read different kinds of English texts? (choose one answer) … in the same way … in different ways depending on the kinds of texts and reading purposes How you read an English reading text? (choose one answer) … read word-by-word from the beginning to the end of the text … read quickly through the text and read its important parts again What knowledge you employ when reading an English text? (choose one answer) … knowledge of vocabulary and grammar … background knowledge … both of the two sources of knowledge Why you read English texts? (choose one answer) … to the required reading tasks … to practice reading strategies 104 … to improve vocabulary and grammar … to get more information … to relax Other reasons: ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… In your opinion, are English reading strategies important to reading comprehension? … very important … important … rather important … not important What are the benefits of reading strategies in an English reading process? ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… C ABOUT YOUR FREQUENCY OF USING ENGLISH READING STRATEGIES IN THE READING PROCESS PLEASE GO TO THE NEXT PAGE 105 How often you use the following English reading strategies in your reading process? Make a cross (X) in the appropriate column which show your answer ENGLISH READING (1) STRATEGIES reading Planning what to / what steps to take Previewing the text Connecting text to READING background knowledge A TEXT Predicting the contents of the text or section of text Paying attention to text structure Posing questions about the text Checking predictions Finding answers to posed questions Using discourse markers to see relationships WHILE READING A TEXT (3) (4) (5) never rarely sometimes often always Specifying a purpose for BEFORE (2) Connecting one part of the text to another Identifying difficulties Taking steps to repair faulty comprehension Rereading 106 ENGLISH READING STRATEGIES (1) (2) READING A TEXT new word from context Making inferences Checking comprehension Summarizing information Critiquing the text AFTER Critiquing the author READING Reflecting on what has A TEXT (4) (5) never rarely sometimes often always Guessing the meaning of a WHILE (3) been learned from the text Judging how well objectives were met - Thank you for your help! 107 APPENDIX 6: READING PASSAGE FOR THINKING ALOUD 108 109 APPENDIX 7: SUMMARY OF READING STRATEGIES USED BY SUCCESSFUL AND LESS SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS IN DOING A TEST ENGLISH READING STRATEGIES Looking quickly through the texts Read the texts slowly and carefully PREREADING Looking at the questions carefully before reading the texts Identifying difficulties a Vocabulary b Confusing grammatical structures c Unfamiliar topics d Long passages e The ability to make inferences Taking steps to repair comprehension a Focusing on main ideas of the WHILEREADING texts b Focusing on key words of the text c Rereading many times Successful readers (N=20) Less successful readers (N=33) 12 (60%) 13 (39%) (20%) 11 (33%) (20%) (27%) 12 (60%) (10%) (5%) (5%) (10%) 18 (55%) (3%) (9%) (3%) (6%) (15%) (40%) (5%) (6%) (6%) (6%) (6%) 20 (100%) (20%) 28 (85%) d Translation Guessing the meaning of a new word by using a Inference from context b Structural clues 110 APPENDIX 8: SUMMARY OF READING STRATEGIES USED BY SUCCESSFUL AND LESS SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS IN READING A REGULAR TEXT ENGLISH READING STRATEGIES Planning what to Successful Less successful readers readers (N=10) (N=10) Previewing the text a Looking at the title, pictures and questions in the “Before Reading” b Looking quickly through the text c Using two strategies in a and b Not using pre-reading strategies PREREADING Translation a Translating all the words without looking through the text b Translating after reading through each paragraph in English c Translating all the words after reading through the whole passage in English Connecting one part of the text to another 1 3 5 2 Identifying difficulties a Vocabulary WHILEb Other problems (e.g grammar, READING topic) Guessing the meaning of a new word in context Looking up the dictionary or glossary Summarizing Critiquing the author POSTREADING Reflecting on what has been learned from the text No post-reading strategies 111 ... READING STRATEGIES EMPLOYED BY EFL STUDENTS AT TRA VINH HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIFTED STUDENTS in terms of the statement of the Requirements for the Theses in Master’s Program issued by the Higher Degree... important role of reading strategies in reading comprehension An overview of pedagogical frameworks for teaching reading strategies in ESL /EFL classrooms and strategies suggested by researchers for. .. to examine how EFL students at Tra Vinh High School for Gifted Students (TVHSGS) adopted reading strategies in their reading process with a view to helping them develop strategic reading abilities